To Boldly Go… Merit Member Conference 2023 Recap

Growing up as a self-described sci-fi aficionado, watching reruns of Star Trek: The Next Generation with my family after dinnertime nourished a persistent fascination with the future. The future depicted in science fiction has offered glimpses of different technologies and opportunities to advance as a society. Some of these ideas are as out-of-this-world as space travel and teleportation, while some are more relatable (i.e., keeping people easily and quickly connected using advanced telecommunications). While the internet was only an emerging technology when Star Trek debuted in the late 1960s, it has since become a primary driver of economic, social, and institutional change that has largely defined the 21st Century so far.

The 2023 Merit Member Conference-themed Boldly Go-presented an assortment of different efforts, programs, and initiatives to help connect Michiganders to robust, safe, and reliable high-speed internet. These efforts also prioritize making access as equitable as possible regardless of location, background, or socioeconomic status. The conference was loaded with presentations, panels, and demonstrations of practices, principles, technologies, and mindsets to make access to fast, reliable, secure, and equitable internet for all a possibility.

SEMCOG staff attended a few different sessions covering the wide spectrum of broadband and digital equity. Highlights of attended sessions include:

• Economic opportunity and equity through broadband access; quantum computing and quantum communications; the relationship between technology and mental health; and digital equity funding opportunities.
• Technologies for more accurately measuring network performance beyond quick online speed tests, namely the “Netrics” system that has been developed jointly by Merit Network and the University of Chicago.
• MI Connected Future – The initiative of the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office to collect public input to maximize the even dispersal of forthcoming funding from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
• An overview of existing and future broadband grant opportunities for communities in the state, including ROBIN and the BEAD program.
• A remote island community’s effort to establish a broadband network to improve community service.
• Open Access Networks – How the technology works and how to differentiate it from other models of internet networks.
• Using GIS to communicate within an organization and how to creatively engage the community using effective and well-presented spatial data.

…Where No One Has Gone Before

SEMCOG was selected to present on May 16, when I discussed a first-of-its-kind tool for the region: a comprehensive broadband and digital access hub site known as the Southeast Michigan Broadband Navigator. I profiled the Navigator in an article from April, and the conference provided an opportunity to share a live demonstration of both the website and regional best practices showcased therein to an in-person audience for the first time.

The lineup of presentations discussing different best practices for bringing the internet to more residents, businesses, and institutions featured Livingston County CIO and City of Brighton Mayor Kristoffer Tobbe as well as City of Farmington Mayor Pro Tem Joe LaRussa.

From Left to Right: Kris Tobbe, Livingston County CIO; Noah Bussell, SEMCOG Economic and Community Vitality Planner; Joe LaRussa, City of Farmington Mayor Pro Tem

Mr. Tobbe’s presentation discussed the broadband data and mapping efforts that took place across Livingston County to inform community need for high-speed internet. His presentation included discussion of how the County creates a comprehensive picture of where broadband is available or lacking by leveraging a combination of technical assistance from:

• Nonprofit organization Merit Network,
• Planning dollars through SEMCOG’s Planning Assistance Program, and
• Infrastructure data is available from the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI).

This mapping project has culminated in the development of the planned Livingston County Fiber Trunkline: a phase-based, public-service middle-mile network that will enable all county residents to be serviced by broadband infrastructure.

Mr. LaRussa’s presentation discussed the collaborative effort between the City of Farmington and the City of Farmington Hills to identify community needs and build out broadband access within the two cities. His presentation included a discussion of how decision-making between the two cities for a fiber optic network buildout was informed by the data collected to determine where broadband infrastructure was needed most. This was first presented through the publication of a Broadband Feasibility Report in late 2020 and led to the issuance of METRO Act permits to SiFi Networks. Planning for the network substantially was completed by summer 2022, and groundbreaking is planned for summer 2023. The opportunity for the network has also paved the way for other components of managing a broadband network, including the development of data management and governance policies. Viable pilot projects that can operate in concert with the infrastructure network have also been identified.

A comprehensive list of these initiatives and projects can be found on the Case Studies page of the Southeast Michigan Broadband Navigator. SEMCOG invites you and your organization to reach out via email to share your projects, initiatives, and/or plans in order to further highlight case studies to ultimately increase internet connectivity. Across Southeast Michigan, there are numerous staff and officials from nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and industries working to address the issues of improving infrastructure and digital literacy. Stakeholders are also working toward mapping and data that give better ground truth to what broadband access looks like throughout the region. SEMCOG has worked to catalog these efforts into a collection of case studies and best practices to help guide, inspire, and connect with ongoing and future broadband projects.

Broadband Navigator Webinar

This information was discussed in a SEMCOG University webinar on March 10, 2023. You can view the webinar below to get the full presentation, beginning with a demonstration of the Broadband Navigator and followed by the best practices showcase, which includes the contact information and backgrounds of each speaker.

Alongside the presentations from Kris Tobbe and Joe LaRussa was a presentation from Larry Neal, Director of the Clinton-Macomb Public Library (CMPL) on plans to improve digital literacy in the community, as well as the role that libraries generally play in digital literacy. His presentation focused on digital literacy and CMPL’s different services and activities to help get people connected to the internet and navigate internet-enabled devices. This includes the nature of the barriers created by low digital literacy; he also discussed how libraries can “cross that bridge” to help people use these technologies and close the digital divide. CMPL also provides access to Wi-Fi internet, hotspots, adaptive technologies, and support from library staff.

A downloadable version of the presentation slides is available for reference to these discussions as they were held both in the SEMU and the Merit Member Conference. You can reach out to Noah Bussell, Planner, Economic and Community Vitality with any questions, details, or other information regarding these efforts and the Broadband Navigator more generally.